Ma'at

Maat or Mayet, thought to have been pronounced as *unicode|Muʔʕat (Muh-aht), [Information taken from phonetic symbols for Ma'at, and explanations on how to pronounce based upon modern reals, revealed in (Collier and Manley pp. 2-4, 154)] was the Ancient Egyptian concept of truth, balance, order— law, morality, and justice [(Budge "The Gods of the Egyptians" Vol. 1 p. 417)] – sometimes personified as a goddess. [(Budge "The Gods of the Egyptians" Vol. 1 p. 418)] [Bard, Kathryn A, "An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt", WileyBlackwell (Aug 2007) p. 124] Ma'at was seen as being in charge with regulating the stars, seasons, and the actions of both mortals and the deities, [(Strudwick p. 106)] after she had set the order of the universe from chaos at the moment of creation.

Later, as a goddess in other traditions of the Egyptian pantheon, where most goddesses were paired with a male aspect, her masculine counterpart was Thoth and their attributes are the same. [(Budge "The Gods of the Egyptians" Vol. 1 p. 400)] Like Thoth, [(Budge "The Gods of the Egyptians" Vol. 1 p. 407)] she was seen to represent the Logos of Plato. [ [http://www.wsu.edu:8000/~dee/EGYPT/MAAT.HTM Ma'at ] ] After the rise of Ra they were depicted as guiding his Solar Barque, one on either side.

After her role in creation and continuously preventing the universe from "returning" to chaos, her primary role in Egyptian mythology dealt with the weighing of souls that took place in the underworld, Duat. [(Budge "The Gods of the Egyptians" Vol. 1 p. 418)] Her feather was the measure that determined whether the souls (considered to reside in the heart) of the departed would reach the paradise of afterlife successfully.

Ma'at as a principle

Ma'at as a principle was at least partially codified into a set of laws, and expressed a ubiquitous concept of correct from wrong characterized by concepts of truth and a respect for, and adherence to, this divine order believed to be set forth by her at the time of the world's creation. This divine order was primarily conceived of as being modeled in various environmental, agricultural, and social relationships.

In addition to the importance of the Ma'at, several other principles within Ancient Egyptian law were essential, including an adherence to tradition as opposed to change, the importance of rhetorical skill, and the significance of achieving impartiality, and social equality. Thus, to the Egyptian mind, Ma'at bound all things together in an indestructible unity: the universe, the natural world, the state, and the individual were all seen as parts of the wider order generated by Ma'at.

During the Greek period in Egyptian history, Greek law existed alongside that of the Egyptian law, but usually these laws favored the Greeks. When the Romans took control of Egypt, the Roman legal system which existed throughout the Roman empire was imposed in Egypt.

The underlying concepts of Taoism and Confucianism resemble Ma'at at times. Many of these concepts were codified into laws, and many of the concepts often were discussed by ancient Egyptian philosophers and officials who referred to the spiritual text known as the Book of the Dead.

Later scholars and philosophers also would embody concepts from the wisdom literature, or seboyet. [See Russ VerSteeg, "Law in Ancient Egypt" 19 (Carolina Academic Press 2002)] These spiritual texts dealt with common social or professional situations and how each was best to be resolved or addressed in the spirit of Ma'at- it was very practical advice, and highly case-based, so that few specific and general rules could be derived from them.

Ma'at as a goddess

The goddess Ma'at is the personification of physical and moral law, justice, order, and truth [(Budge "The Gods of the Egyptians" Vol. 1 p. 417)] represented as a woman, sitting or standing, holding a scepter in one hand and an ankh in the other. Sometimes she is depicted with wings on each arm or as a woman with an ostrich feather on her head. [Budge "The Gods of the Egyptians" Vol. 1 p. 416)]

Because it also was the pharaoh's duty to ensure truth and justice, many of them were referred to as "Meri-Ma'at" ("Beloved of Ma'at"). Since she was considered as merely the concept of order and truth, it was thought that she came into existence at the moment of creation, having no creator and made the order of the entire universe from the pandemonium.

When beliefs about Thoth arose in the Egyptian pantheon and started to consume the earlier beliefs at Hermopolis about the Ogdoad, it was said that she was the mother of the Ogdoad and Thoth the father.

In Duat, the Egyptian underworld, the hearts of the dead were said to be weighed against her single "Shu feather," symbolically representing the concept of Ma'at, in the "Hall of Two Truths". A heart which was unworthy was devoured by the goddess Ammit and its owner condemned to remain in Duat. The heart was considered the location of the soul by ancient Egyptians. Those people with good, (and pure), hearts were sent on to Aaru. Osiris came to be seen as the guardian of the gates of Aaru after he became part of the Egyptian pantheon and displaced Anubis in the Ogdoad tradition.

The weighing of the heart, pictured on papyrus, (in the Book of the Dead, typically, or in tomb scenes, etc.), shows Anubis overseeing the weighing, the lioness Ammit seated awaiting the results so she could consume those who failed. The image would be the vertical heart on one flat surface of the "balance scale," and the "vertical Shu-feather" standing on the other balance scale surface. Other traditions hold that Anubis brought the soul before the posthumous Osiris who performed the weighing.

Ma'at was commonly depicted in ancient Egyptian art as a woman with outstretched wings and a "curved" ostrich feather on her head or, sometimes, just as a feather. These images are on some sarcophagi as a symbol of protection for the souls of the dead. Egyptians believed that without Ma'at there would be only the primal chaos, ending the world. It was seen as the Pharaoh's necessity to apply just law, following Ma'at.

Ma'at themes found in Book of the Dead and tomb enscriptions

One aspect of ancient Egyptian funerary literature which often is mistaken for a codified ethic of Ma'at is Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead, often called the 42 Declarations of Purity or the Negative Confession. These declarations varied somewhat from tomb to tomb, and so can not be considered a canonical definition of Ma'at. Rather, they appear to express each tomb owner's individual conception of Ma'at, as well as working as a magical absolution (misdeeds or mistakes made by the tomb owner in life could be declared as not having been done, and through the power of the written word, wipe that particular misdeed from the afterlife record of the deceased).

Many of the lines are similar, however, and they can help to give the student a "flavor" for the sorts of things which Ma'at governed—essentially "everything" from the most formal to the most mundane aspect of life.

Many versions are given on-line, unfortunately seldom do they note the tomb from which they came or, whether they are a collection from various different tombs. Generally, they are each addressed to a specific deity, described in his or her most fearsome aspect.

The doctrine of Ma'at is represented in the declarations to Rekhti-merti-f-ent-Ma'at and the 42 negative affirmations listed in the Papyrus of Ani:

Declarations to Rekhti-merti-f-ent-Ma'at

quotation
Verily I have come to thee, I have brought to thee Ma'at.
# I have driven away for thee wickedness.
# I have not done iniquity to mankind.
# Not have I done harm unto animals.
# Not have I done wickedness in the place of Ma'at.
# Not have I known evilness in my actions.
# Not have I acted wickedly.
# Not have I done each day and every works above what I should do.
# Not hath come forth my name to the boat of the Prince.
# Not have I despised God.
# Not have I caused misery.
# Not have I caused affliction.
# Not have I done what is abominable to God.
# Not have I caused harm to be done to the servant by his chief.
# Not have I caused pain.
# Not have I made to weep.
# Not have I killed.
# Not have I made the order for killing for me.
# Not have I done harm to mankind.
# Not have I taken aught of the oblations in the temples.
# Not have I purloined the cakes of the gods.
# Not have I carried off the offerings of the blessed dead.
# Not have I fornicated
# Not have I defiled myself.
# Not have I added to, not have I diminished the offerings.
# Not have I stolen from the orchard.
# Not have I trampled down the fields.
# I have not added to the weight of the balance.
# Not have I diminished from the weight of the balance.
# Not have I carried off the milk from the mouth of the babe.
# Not have I driven away the cattle which were upon their pastures.
# Not have I captured the birds of the preserves of the gods.
# Not have I taken the fishes [with bait] of their own bodies.
# Not have I turned back water at its season.
# Not have I cut a cutting in water running.
# Not have I extinguished a flame at its hour.
# Not have I violated the times for the chosen offerings.
# Not have I driven back the cattle of divine things.
# I have not repulsed God in his manifestations.I, even I, am pure. Times four. [(Budge "The Egyptian Book of the Dead" pp. 194 - 8) The text is exact, but numbers are added. Budge is in the public domain.]

42 Negative Confessions

quotation

# Not have I done wrong.
# Not have I despoiled.
# Not have I robbed.
# Not have I slain men: twice.
# Not have I defrauded the offerings.
# Not have I diminished [oblations] .
# Not have I despoiled the things of the god.
# Not have I spoken lies.
# Not have I carried off food.
# Not have I afflicted [any]
# Not have I committed fornication.
# Not have I made to weep.
# Not have I eaten my heart.
# Not have I transgressed.
# Not have I acted deceitfully.
# Not have I desolated ploughed lands.
# Not have I been an eavesdropper.
# Not have I set my mouth in motion [against any man] .
# Not have I raged except with a cause.
# Not have I defiled the wife of a man.
# Not have I defiled the husband of a woman.
# Not have I polluted myself.
# Not have I caused terror.
# Not have I committed offense
# Not have I inflamed myself with rage.
# Not have I made deaf myself to the words of right and truth.
# Not have I caused grief.
# Not have I acted insolently.
# Not have I stirred up strife.
# Not have I judged hastily.
# Not have I been an eavesdropper.
# Not have I multiplied my words upon words.
# Not have I harmed, not have I done evil.
# Not have I made curses of the king.
# Not have I fouled water.
# Not have I made haughty my voice.
# Not have I have I cursed God.
# Not have I committed theft.
# Not have I defrauded the offerings of the gods.
# Not have I carried away offerings from the beatified ones.
# Not have I carried off the food of the infant, not have I sinned against the god of the town.
# Not have I slaughtered the cattle divine. [(Budge "The Egyptian Book of the Dead" pp. 198 - 203) The text has been modified, keeping Budge's numbering but removing the "Hail, "insert name"," at the beginning of the declarations. Repeated statements are made to two different entities.]

Excerpt from 38 Negative Confessions

quotation
1. I have not done evil to mankind.
2. I have not oppressed the members of my family.
3. I have not wrought evil in the place of right and truth.
4. I have had no knowledge of worthless men.
7. I have not brought forward my name for exaltation to honors.
8. I have not ill-treated servants.
9. I have not belittled a god.
10. I have not defrauded the oppressed one of his property.
11. I have not done that which is an abomination unto the gods.
14. I have made no man suffer hunger.
15. I have made no one to weep.
16. I have done no murder.
17. I have not given the order for murder to be done for me.
18. I have not inflicted pain upon mankind.
22. I have not committed fornication.
26. I have not encroached upon the fields of others.
29. I have not carried away the milk from the mouths of children.
30. I have not driven away the cattle which were upon their pastures.
38. I have not obstructed a god in his procession. I am pure! I am pure! I am pure! I am pure! [(Rogers "Aspects of Western Civilization: Problems and Sources in History" pp. 18) The text has not been modified in any way, shape, or form.]

Assessors of Ma'at

The Assessors of Ma'at are the 42 deities listed in the "Papyrus of Nebseni" and to which the deceased make the Negative Confession to in the Papyrus of Ani. [(Budge "The Gods of the Egyptians" Vol. 1 pp. 418-20)]

Notes

References

*Budge, E. A. Wallis. "The Egyptian Book of the Dead: (The Papyrus of Ani) Egyptian Text Transliteration and Translation". New York: Dover Publications, 1967. Originally published in 1895.
*Budge, E. A. Wallis. "The Gods of the Egyptians: Studies in Egyptian Mythology — Volume 1". New York: Dover Publications, 1969. Originally published in 1904.
*Collier, Mark and Manly, Bill. "How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: Revised Edition." Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
*Faulkner, Raymond. "The Egyptian Book of the Dead." San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1994.
*Mancini, Anna. "Ma'at Revealed: Philosophy of Justice in Ancient Egypt." New York: Buenos Books America, 2004.
*Strudwick, Helen. "The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt". Singapore: De Agostini UK, 2006.

External links

* [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/law.htm Egypt: Law and the Legal System in Ancient Egypt] by Mark Andrews
* [http://www.perankhgroup.com/42%20commandments.htm A list of the 42 Principles of Ma'at]